I am using a quote from a guy who probably was one of the best at seeking out ‘events’ rather than fear or avoid them. Therefore it would be impossible to use my time today to discuss worrying about things that will never happen and fear of what could be.

Instead this is all about the ‘impending event’ and fearing it.

In Nelson’s case it was huge cannons shooting big iron balls at him with the intent of taking his head off (and whoda thunk it would actually be a mini ball that would get him in the end).

But. You know what?

He took that bullet that killed him standing in full admiral dress uniform on the main deck in full view of his men and all his enemy to see. He was Leading.

Did he feel “fear?” Sure.

I am sure somewhere inside him he had to feel something. But the event took precedent.

I say that because fear, dread and worry are odd things. But very real odd things.

And because I am writing about ‘the event’ itself I will note these odd things affect ‘the event’. Ok. Maybe better said … they affect your performance at the event.

It is really important to talk about this. REALLY important. It is important because well all know that success, and effective performance, is most likely if in the moment of the event if you are not frozen with fear. It is actually called “seeking flow” (or Flow moments) but suffice it to say there is a certain ‘peace’, a certain contentment, if you can figure out how to accept the moment as it is (and you actually want to do your best at the event).

“Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy.”

Leo F. Buscaglia

——————-

I will change this quote for my needs and say “it only saps today of its energy.” The constant litany of everything that should have been done, everything that needs to be done, everything you wish you had time to have done … all of which (in your mind) should be done better … sap energy that could be invested in the event.

That is a fine list of things I just shared all of which I would suggest are driven of fear of the event.

Now.

I am not suggesting not being prepared or thinking through what needs to be done or anything like that. But events are meant to be commanded not feared. And the difference between approaching an event looking at both of these is significantly different.

I am sure we all have encountered that familiar tightening in your gut as you not only near the event but sometimes just even thinking about the damn thing.

And you know what? Deep breaths don’t do shit. Convincing yourself that everything will be okay doesn’t do shit. And building the perfect plan CERTAINLY doesn’t do shit.

(because inevitably it will all go to shit and you will fester and worry about that)

Let me tell you the conclusion of what will occur AFTER the event with worries … one of these 2 things:

“None of it happened (what I feared or worried about).”

“Some of what I feared happened.” (but it the world didn’t stop spinning)

Oh.

And then you will sit back and say “Shit, look at all the time I wasted.” (fearing the event) I dont want to dimsihs what anyone, and almost everyone, feels when an event occurs but the truth is that the anxiety and fear associated with the event is a big fat frickin’ waste of time.

Imagining how everything was going to turn out badly was a waste of energy.

(and the people who suggest that doing such things made everyone better prepared are wrong … unequivocally wrong)

Some guy who had a crappy education and ended up on CNN or something like that said: “I’d been so focused on my doubts, on replaying that tape of me at my worst, that I’d forgotten who was truly helping me become the best I could be.”

Dude.

You got it (the issue). And you got it (what you wanted). So why waste all that energy on your ‘worst’ or your fears of the event because, well, you got it.

Ok.

The point.

Yeah.

I purposefully selected probably one of the best naval commanders of all time to make this point.

You can fear the event or you can command the event.

Boldness, or commanding the moment, does have a certain power to it. I won’t call it magic but rather energy. And that makes fearing what is actually something that is inevitable (the event) is just plain silly. And just a plain waste of energy.

I don’t care if it’s a presentation, a speaking event, your driver’s test, an interview or even a frickin’ date.

They are inevitable events.

Seek to command.

Do not enter into the event in fear.

Stand on the deck amongst the bullets in full uniform and take what will come.

One would think getting started would be one of the easiest things in the world to do.

One would be wrong.

Oddly, in business, and Life I imagine, getting started is one of the more challenging things we encounter.

We hem.

We haw.

We wax poetically.

We gnash our teeth.

We plan.

We plan some more.

We play out a zillion ‘what of scenarios.’

We make assignments; discuss the assignments and who will do the assignments.

We discuss the assignments again.

We debate whether the right people are assigned to assignments.

We reassign assignments and assign milestones, checklists and a variety of “we do not have confidence in you so we will set up a labyrinth of reporting checks & balances for you so that you know we do not have confidence in you.”

We wait until the wind blows in the right direction <even though no one is sure what the wrong direction is – to blows in whatever direction it blows, doesn’t it?>.

And then maybe, just maybe, we get started. We do all of this under the guise of insuring we get right whatever we start. Uhm. And we do this knowing full well, at least in business, the odds of something going wrong is near almost 100% on any given project.

I imagine a part of our hesitation to start is our ‘self’ trying to address the feeling of not being ‘expert enough’ right out of the starting blocks gate. That certainly holds a lot of people back from even trying because while you may not care about being the absolute best, or even being perfect, you don’t want to suck or look stupid <or, at minimum, we desire to limit our suckedness>.

To be clear.

Making a mistake is one thing.

Making a stupid mistake is another.

I wish business would more often view workflow as learning to ride a bike. Chances are you weren’t an expert your first try … crashing into shit, banging the crap out of yourself … but most times you persisted and not only figured it out but got pretty good at riding the frickin’ bike. The problem is that business looks at those crashes and bumps & bruises as “mistakes” <despite the fact they happen all the time and to everyone>.

Yeah.

That is something a shitload of people don’t talk about a lot. The fact that Businesses face failures and mistakes <of the system or process or of people> all the time.

Sometimes small, sometimes large … but all the time. Most mistakes stay under the radar and are relatively harmless. They are simply the cost of doing business … as humans.

However.

Far too often these failures come to the attention of some manager within the system and then THEY bring it to everyone’s attention. And therein lies the bigger business truth … discerning the type of error – exception or systematic.

That said. With regard to mistakes … business people tend to fall into one of two categories:

—

Those who see the exception as systemic <a reflection of an ongoing issue>

Those who see the exception as … well … an exception

—

I could argue that the difference between a good leader and a bad leader can be found by which category they fall into.

I cannot tell you how many times I have sat in a business meeting watching people wring their hands and speculate on ‘why did this happen?” <that speculation is the business version of ‘misinformation’, in other words, ‘made up’ version of why things happened the way they did>.

But.

Once the misinformation is stripped away, the remaining question is, and always will be, how big is the mistake <not whether it was stupid or not or should it have been known or not>? And therein lies the flaw in how business tends to view these exceptions <mistakes> in today’s business world.

We seek some absurd level of perfection and in doing so we shut down in dealing with an exception with the incredibly stupid intent to break <or revisit> a well-designed, well working system <or even a well-trained, highly capable employee> to eliminate a … well … a stupid mistake <although almost no one can truly discern the difference between a stupid mistake, a mistake or simply a failure of the system itself>.

How does this apply to getting started?

This translates into having our head on a swivel before we even start. We look for trouble where there truly is none.

We find issues everywhere … even when it is simply a perception … or worse … a speculative ‘what if’ issue. And, maybe the worst, in all of our speculative modeling and ‘what if scenarios’ we absurdly end up applying the wrong remedy <or sometimes an unnecessary remedy> against something that is … uhm … speculative for god’s sake.

Look.

If you do some research on what slows people from getting started you will find one word over and over again – fear. It is often used simplistically and … well … inappropriately. I imagine if I stretch my thinking I could suggest fear is at the root of hesitation but I kind of think it is just most of us just do not want to suck. We truly do want to get shit right. Therefore it would seem gale wind almost everyone faces at the starting gate is one thing – the unknown. And this unknown is multi-dimensional in that there is a forward unknown <you may not have done this exact assignment or task before>, there is the general unknown <each task lives contextually in a different environment therefore even if you have done something once before the new context will invariably mean you will face something new> and the’ unknown’ unknowns <the random shit that inevitably occurs in the business world>.

Shit.

After reading that I don’t know why anyone actually starts anything.

Shit.

After reading that I don’t know why anyone would ‘go full speed’ but rather aim for some mediocrity as it would appear to be a safer more conservative path.

Oh.

But here is where the unknown really hits you hard in business – accountability. In business, regardless of whether you encounter knowns or unknowns, you are accountable.

Shit.

Double shit.

In business most time <I think> getting started is so hard because … well … you are accountable once you start <albeit … you will also be accountable if you don’t start … it just seems a little less risky>.

Accountability is a sonuvabitch. It is a sonuvabitch because even just one bad thing seems to create a crisis scenario.

And therein lies the biggest challenge.

Inevitable criticism occurs based on some perception of perfectionism <because the world around you almost absurdly always believe you should have foreseen the knowns AND unknowns>. It is an unfortunate truth that people expect certain things … and often these ‘certain things’ are unrealistic.

Look.

I am all for striving for perfection with an eye toward the implementation of an idea. But as with so many aspects of life, the key is striking a balance between opposing forces, each with its own set of pros and cons.

Too little perfectionism leads to a rapid but undesirable endpoint.

Too much perfectionism leads to analysis paralysis and no endpoint at all.

To be clear.

I believe Perfection is shit. It is shit because things just happen in business.

How often does this ‘happen’?

All.

The.

Frickin’.

Time.

I say that because it sure would encourage more people to get started if we embraced the truth that not everything, and not every mistake, is a crisis. And you know what? Even if you do face a crisis it has a familiar pattern.

You’re knocked off balance.

You learn.

You adapt.

Anyway.

The truth is that the wind, more often than not, blows in the wrong direction … even though … well … how can a wind blow in the wrong direction? My point on that so many times we wait on getting started until the wind is blowing in the right direction and … well … it never will.

The wind just blows.

And we just need to get started.

I will admit. I have always been a “let’s just go do shit and figure shit out as we go”type business person assuming I was surrounded with enough good smart talented people that we ran little risk of not figuring shit out.

That said.

I didn’t always sprint out of the blocks … I was also willing to crawl. All I cared about was getting started.

I wish we taught that attitude more often.

Crawling can be as good as, and even more effective, sprinting and crawling is better than not moving at all.

This illustration on the right is from a site called secretvespers.com. He does some seriously cool illustrations.

That said. As soon as I saw this one I started smiling.

Whenever anyone has ever asked me ‘what is the one thing you want to do if you could only do one thing?’ … I have always answered with about 6 things.

I honestly want to do and be everywhere.

And it works for me.

Yeah.

Drives some people crazy.

Life is funny this way.

Some people need to have a focal point and aim for it. They want to be on top of the world and dammit they are going straight there.

Me?

My world is round so I am happy to aim for the top because that means I can be anywhere and be happy.

Hey. Whatever works for you is what I say.

I guess my point is that I am always amazed when someone can say one thing will make them happy. My gut tells me that most of us would be happy if we had one of a dozen things. Or two of the dozen. Or any combination of things in that dozen if we are fortunate to get more than one.

To me it insures I am never a creature of the commonplace.

I know. I know.

Some people’s DNA doesn’t work that way. They have to choose a star and aim for it. And, in general, the world & society & business encourages you to focus on one star and do your damndest to get to that star.

Not me.

To me the sky is full of stars and I am happy with any of them. Actually as many as I can catch if it be true.

Anyway.

I saw the truth in “being everywhere” in myself. And I am comfortable in this skin <albeit it isn’t the best career advice to give anyone>.

On a separate note.

I believe a lot of young people would like to answer this way when some old person says to them “where do you want to be in 10 years?”

Why do I say that?

I always remember my own dad bugging me about “what is it you want to do with your life?” and me <being the ever so mature kid … then tween .. then young adult … yeah … this discussion lasted that long> and going ballistic thinking it was the stupidest question I had ever heard even then.

What I would suggest to everyone is that, in general, people don’t stop when they start to suck.

And they don’t for one of two reasons:

They are oblivious to their sucking.

They recognize their suckedness and begin to do whatever it takes to rise above sucking (only to find out that sucking is like quicksand)

Let’s go to # 1 first. Oblivious to sucking.

Unfortunately life doesn’t have stop signs (or any signs for that matter) with regard to sucking. Nor is there a manual you can read. You can pretty much only hope for one of 2 things … either over time you start to recognize your own signs of suckedness or you happen to have a really good friend/co-worker who has a special sign they give you to tell you that you suck (or are starting to suck).

Knowing when you start to suck is difficult. Really difficult. I think it is easier to recognize when you aren’t sucking.

So what I typically tell people is that when you know you are going good … and on a roll … as quickly as you can find a “period” point. I mean a stopping point (usually characterized by the fact you need to stop talking to actually breathe) … and … well … you stop.

Now.

That may be as difficult as stopping when you suck (maybe harder because it is natural to want the goodness (non-suckedness) to go for as long as possible. But. Stop on a high note. Trust me. If someone really likes it they will ask for more. If they don’t … well … you did great. You didn’t suck.

The corollary factoid? Well. If you enter into the suck zone and you stop … well … I can guarantee they won’t ask for more.

It all sounds confusing doesn’t it?

It is.

Especially now as we move to #2.

This is where you actually realize you suck … and then begin paddling as hard as you can to get out of the suck zone.

Oops.

Sucking is like quicksand. The harder you work to stop sucking the further you get sucked down into suckedness. But, once again, it is natural to try and want to end on a high note so you work to get there. This is human nature to try and get yourself out of trouble once you recognize you are in trouble (insert suck for trouble at any point)

And you shouldn’t.

Stop.

A little suckedness will be recognized as just that … a little. And most people will overlook the little for whatever made up ‘the most.’ But. A lot of suckedness? It’s … well … a lot. And difficult to overlook or ignore.

Anyway.

Kristen is a musician … but she said something relevant to anyone at any time. It’s her quote but I would change a couple of things to create some advice.

“When you think (even an inkling) you are starting to suck, stop.”

The corollary?

“When you think it is going good, stop.”

But.

I guess truly the best thought in the end is just where I started … “when you start to suck, stop.”

I have written a number of things about consultants and offering solutions and process <whenever you say ‘process’ say it like you have taken 6 Quaaludes … reeeeaaaaalllllyyyyyy sssslllllloooooooowww>.

Solutions always sound slow.

But here’s the deal.

Success almost always resides in ‘Solution speed’.

What I mean by that is the idea of how quickly a good solution can be developed to a challenge/problem/challenge/situation.

Some boneheads call it retail marketing or retail speed but the reality is it is just coming up the right (or a very close to being right if not the rightest) solution fast.

Let’s call it solution speed <and it is underrated and often over complicated>.

The tricky part <before I dig myself into too deep a hole> to this concept is that it cannot be a fast shitty solution. It has to be a good/great/awesome/awesomer solution done with speed.

Why did I add that?

Well.

First.

Just because someone comes up with something fast doesn’t mean it’s good. Just as with anything … you need to assess it fairly <without assessing too slowly … think in a “festina lente” way>.

Second.

In the heads of young <or less experienced> people offering good solutions with speed is challenging <if not a truly rare ability>.

Good smart young people can certainly offer solution speed. It’s just that it’s not particularly the ‘rightest’ solution with the speed because they just don’t have the background knowledge to cluster enough of the right information to offer the best solution.

Anyway.

Solution speed is an equation: The right pieces of the puzzle + puzzle assembly speed = solution speed.

Because of that equation I know I have always hired people smarter than I.

Hey.

Teams need thinkers and doers to be successful but if your team can develop an awesome solution speedier than anyone else it gives your team (who had to be relatively smart in the first place to get that type of solution) some cushion time to figure out how to “do it” <assuming you don’t have a spectacular doer on hand which is always a bonus on a team>.

So.

While smart young people can’t necessarily offer the best speedy solution … smart young people do something really well.

They assemble relevant insightful facts fast.

In fact … they can be essential to the speed side of the equation.

Oh.

Because not all facts are created equal. Playing with fact puzzle pieces that you end up throwing away because they don’t fit slows you down (that means slower solution speed just in case you missed the topic of this post). Now. As noted earlier young people mostly don’t have enough experience (yet) to do two things:

Know all the factoids necessary to find the solution, and

Assimilate the factoids to build the solution puzzle.

On those two things that’s where the senior more experienced person comes in.

And this is where the best solution speed occurs.

That more experienced person <if they are worth half a shit> already has some puzzle pieces on hand <stored in their pea-like brain> for whatever challenge being addressed. All that senior person is really doing is seeking the additional pieces necessary to finish the puzzle. The faster they receive them (and recognize them) the faster the solution can be developed.

Sure.

This puts a lot of pressure on the senior more experienced person (within a solution speed construct … in a solution slow process they aren’t pressured that much).

But that’s why they should get paid the big bucks. For time is money <on all sides of the equation>.

This senior person is usually expensive hourly but less hours is less out of pocket.

The faster the solution arrives the sooner everyone else gets started <time efficiency on that side>.

All that said.

Far too often … solution speed is underrated.

Or maybe better said it’s misunderstood.

Most business people think if the solution appears too fast something has been overlooked or under-thought.And when I say ‘most’ I would feel comfortable suggesting maybe 90% of business people.

Now.

I am sure that is true some of the time.

But I am also sure that the 80/20 <if not a 90/10> rule applies most of the time.

You spend 20% of the time gaining 80% of the awesome solution and then the remaining 80% of the time developing the 10% that may make it awesome<and the other 10% you come up with isn’t worth crap>. I mention that because the other thing a business person worth half a shit knows is that 80% awesome is a “go.”

There you go.

Ponder the idea of solution speed. And don’t slow it down if you find it.

“It’s the people who no one imagines anything of, who do the things that no one imagines.”

–

The Imitation Game

==================

“The ability to learn faster than your competitors may be the only sustainable competitive advantage.”

—-

Arie de Geus – Dutch business strategist

====

Well.

One of my business pet peeves is our unhealthy pursuit of unique. Far too often in our relentless charge toward ‘unique’ we reach a dubious destination … if not a completely false ‘original’ stance.

This heinous business tradition almost always begins when some consultant comes in and forces you to sit down and answer the infamous question “so what makes you unique?”

Oh … how I get tired of this unique or ‘how are you different?’ discussion.

If you have been there, you have seen these conversations go round and round dancing on the head of a pin.

Invariably you land on one meaningless thing <meaningless to the majority of the world if not the majority of your own employees> or you have a laundry list that the consultant writes on a board and says “okay, great day, you need to figure out which of these is most important to you.”

Note to self:

“gee. thanks. what makes you think we can resolve that 48 hours from now if we cannot now?”

I am simply arguing that it is next to impossible in today’s environment to have a ‘unique.’

Ok. A sustainable one.

If people were honest they would agree that most ‘uniques’ in today’s world are short term and not sustainable <and some people just use lots of money to make short term look big>.

In service categories sustainable “uniqueness” is … well … pretty much impossible. Unique is very subjective here.

Thinking customer first or “we care” is certainly not unique nor what makes you different. That characteristic may represent something the company cares a lot about but most companies to one degree or another feature that characteristic.

In the end that means we are often talking about small degrees of separation which makes it difficult to discern the difference <or originality> to the majority. And the amount of energy we expend trying to justify and explain that this incredibly small difference translates into a significantly larger benefit … just isn’t worth the return on that investment <because that small degree of separation is lost to a competitor responder or thru consumer confusion on internet>.

Now.

What is sustainable? Character and personality.

That is certainly distinct.

Could it end up looking close to someone else? Maybe <but I would argue 90% of the time the other guy will blink … and ultimately do something that will make people question their character>.

But … brand personality/character differentiation topic is another writing of mine.

Today is just a rant on uniqueness.

Moving on.

My go-to books when I am thinking about things are good ole Ralph Waldo Emerson & Montaigne Essays. I had to pull Montaigne off the shelf as I thought about originality & business’s unhealthy relationship with “unique.”

==================

“I have gathered a posy of other men’s flowers, and nothing but the thread that binds them is mine own.”

—-

Montaigne

===============

Of all social philosophers he seemed to delve into the difference between style & substance. His originality can actually be found in some fairly relentless honesty. A lesson in and of itself to any business seeking unique or ‘original’ claims.

——————–

We are all framed of flaps and patches, and of so shapeless and diverse a contexture, that every piece and every moment playeth his part.

——————-

“Que sais-je?”

“What do I know?” was what Montaigne consistently said … kind of a “what the hell do I really know?”

Which brings me back to uniqueness … or … let’s call it the illusion of uniqueness.

It seems like every person, and every business, is born with some innate insane focus on what I would consider a fairly nebulous concept of ‘original.’

I speak with a lot of business owners.

And I can often discern the best of the best of them just by listening and waiting to see if they use this one word <or the words surrounding this one word>:

Unique.

And when they do … well … I get a shiver down my back.

Ok.

I assume there actually has to be some unique products out there in this wide world of ours because over 500,000 patents are filed every year in the good ole USofA. Of course having this conversation with a patent owner is excruciatingly painful … they keep saying “I have a patent therefore it is unique” and you keep saying “yes, sure, and the unique benefit to the buyer is ???” you often find that this conversation is a deadly doom loop with no conclusion but frustration.

I imagine the real point is that everyone wants to be the best at whatever it is they elect to do the best.

Everyone would like to be the only ones who do what you do <assuming what you do is actually of some value to people>.

Everyone wants their business to be ‘unique’ in some form or fashion.

And, if you try hard enough, I imagine every business can be ‘unique’ at something.

But I also imagine if you try hard enough you can learn to dance on the head of a pin.

==============

“There lurks, perhaps, in every human heart a desire of distinction, which inclines every man first to hope, and then to believe, that Nature has given him something peculiar to himself.”

–

Samuel Johnson

=============

Regardless, the point of me writing this <other than ‘unique’ aggravates me> is that I believe somewhere along the way something got lost.

What do I mean?

Well.

Since the beginning of time <in marketingese> the concept of unique has been important but I believe it was Ted Bates who simplified <dumbed it down> for the rest of the world to grasp in a usable form by developing what he, and his advertising agency, called the USP <the unique selling proposition>.

Excellent idea.

Dumbed it down for anyone and everyone to use.

Unfortunately it has all gone wrong since then.

The concept was “unique proposition” not “unique” <all by itself>.

Their point was … well … just that simple … proposing to people some kind of proposition that was meaningful and seemingly unique <at minimum creating a perception of uniqueness>.

Ah.

Please note the nuance.

You need not actually be unique in actuality but rather you simply needed to be able to tell people you were unique in some form or fashion.

The concept implied how you told your proposition was as important as the product-service proposition itself. The brilliance in the concept is that it recognizes most products and services are not truly unique but that didn’t mean you could explain your product-service in a way that wasn’t unique <from a selling perspective>.

And here is where it all went awry … in our world of:

a lack of desire to use someone else’s idea, even if it is a great idea, and

the belief, the theory, we should be simplifying even the simplified <or even the most dumbed down> whereby we lose the nuance.

Ultimately … this translated into the ‘experts’ starting to focus solely on the ‘unique.’

I envision the conversation went something along these lines … “okay, let me simplify this because it is pretty simply … what makes you unique? Answer that and we can get started.”

Well.

Here is the deal.

A unique selling proposition is rarely a simple process or outcome. And discerning what is truly meaningfully unique is rarely simple.

The point?

There is a big difference between “what is your unique selling proposition?” and “what makes you unique?” Both can be valuable discussions … but they are not the same discussions.

I believe the problem is that somewhere along the way marketing, advertising, brand people forgot the nuanced selling proposition concept and simply focused on some <mostly> unattainable facet – unique.

And therein lies the bigger problem.

Identifying the false unique.

Because it is our inherent nature <at least in the business world> to find what you seek.

If I am told I must find something unique than, dammit, I am sure gonna find something unique … even if I have to quasi make it up.

However, fooling yourself does not mean fooling others <although it is a common trap> in fact consumers/buyers are rarely fooled … and if they are … just once.

Look.

I fully understand everyone wants to be the best at something <which is their uniqueness>.

I fully understand that there are truly some widgets with some meaningful describable benefits that are unique.

I fully understand that what most people are construing as ‘unique’ these days is meaningless drivel. At its worst it is simply mental masturbation.

And I fully understand that there are also a lot of missed opportunities for good meaningful “unique selling propositions’ floating out there in the business universe simply because many people just don’t have it on their radar as a meaningful objective.

And, yes, positioning <using words to create a perception of uniqueness> is valuable and an opportunity. And, no, this is not ‘lying’ to the public to create sales.

In fact … I would argue it is smart and a reflection of your only true competitive advantage … the ability to learn faster than your competition.

Why? Uniqueness is NEVER alone. Standing beside it … hugging it closely is someone called “Benefit.”

They are inextricably attached as companions for life. And as you learn more about what the buyer of your product really wants <that Benefit the person> your ‘uniqueness’ may actually change … radically or nominally … it doesn’t matter. It may change to meet the needs & wants of the buyer.

Let me close with this thought:

being the best, or the only one to do something, is irrelevant if it has no value or benefit to others

unique is rare and often fleeting

However, adaptable ‘best’ and adaptable ‘uniqueness’ is neither fleeting nor useless. And the key to those is to be to be the only fastest learner in your category.

Heck. If you do that you may actually not only have a unique selling proposition but a unique product/service to offer. It will certainly maintain some distinctness <if not relevance in the marketplace>.

Regardless.

Whenever unique or original comes up I try and convince every business to stop talking about that and, if they were smart, they would be mart about focusing on themselves … who they were and who they wanted to be.

Tough to do because it doesn’t exactly match up with the standard “this is how you are supposed to do it” management guides.

Anyway.

Maybe this is the most important point.

There are a lot, a shitload, of crazy smart business people out there.

But there are not a lot of crazy smart business people willing to do something crazy like ignore the business books “plan to success” blueprints.

Here is where I put my money.

The few.

Those crazy enough to not invest energy in ‘unique seeking’ or ‘false originality’ but rather let distinction and originality simply evolve from who they are, what they think and their vision of what they think they should be.

Crazy?

Probably.

But in a world where the majority of businesses, and new ideas, fail … maybe this isn’t a crazy a thought as it sounds.

“I am not afraid of my truth anymore and I will not omit pieces of me to make you comfortable.”

—

Alex Elle

===

So.

Being yourself is a tricky topic. In business, Life & deciding what you want t do.

I know <I know>.

Seems like “being yourself” should be simple. Like … ‘breathing’ type simple.

But it’s not. It’s not because there is a constant struggle between an internal part <’who am I’ type shit> and external <figuring out how ‘who am I’ should actually act in public>.

For example … one of my favorite young writers, Jamie, describes herself this way:

================

I’m a writer, pretty much by process of elimination. I am also a professional aspirationalist.

That’s not a word, but I’ve made it into one, since there was nothing that could quite describe me because I didn’t want to say I’m a “professional dreamer” because that sounds like some hippie shit.

I have aspirations, like, lots of them. If you’d like me to create a TV show, get in touch with me. How about publishing my memoir? Get in touch. If you are from The Ellen Show, I will, of course, accept your interview and would be delighted to dance it out with my girl, so long as she doesn’t prank me by making me eat cilantro. In fact, I want no cilantro in anything.

If I could ever vote for a new term that would be it. It’s fucking awesome. It captures the essence of restlessness & hope & striving & unlearning & … well … all the things I believe are good and healthy with a person seeking to be better tomorrow than they are today.

What I truly love about it is that she came up with a term to capture her “self.” I love it because being yourself … and even recognizing who ‘yourself’ is … is hard. And when I say hard … think even harder than maybe becoming a Navy Seal type hard.

……….. self …….. an entanglement of nuances ………….

It is incredibly hard because the truth is that ‘my truth’, more often than not, is most likely an evolving tangled web of characteristics which, as it evolves, simply becomes more tangled <rather than untangled>.

Yourself is constantly adapting to new learning … new learning about things … and new learning, and unlearning, about oneself.

That’s why I love professional aspirationalist.

True north on Jamie’s compass is defined. And its not a destination … but rather it is a direction.

Aspirationalist is a moving target. It is restless and unmoving at exactly the same time. It is an adventurer with some pragmatism. It’s not being on Ellen <although she would be delighted to do so> because once that happens … there will always be something else.

Being an aspirationalist means not only having dreams … but dreaming … oh … and doing.

Yeah.

Doing … doing lots of different shit.

Uh oh.

That also means … well … increasingly more and different dreams <and aspirations>. And increasingly doing more and different shit. Dreaming and doing. Lots of different dreaming and doing.

In the end … <to me> being a professional aspirationalist means being a restless soul. Restlessly seeking, traveling, doing, thinking … professionally constantly in motion <mentally or physically>.

I love it because it captures my personal belief that becoming ‘better’ as a person is experiential rather than tangible <although tangible ‘doing stuff’ is certainly a component>.

I love it because it isn’t for the faint of heart.

And isn’t what truly being yourself is all about? Having some courage to even suggest ‘I will not omit things just to make you comfortable.’

Professional aspirationalist reminded me of this other quote:

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“I am a world that cannot be explored in one day. I am not a place for cowards.”

—

Caitlyn Siehl

<from a love letter to my stretch marks>

==

Yes.

Being a professional aspirationalist means you are not a place for cowards.

Anyway.

I wish I had come up with this word. But I am not as talented a writer as Jamie.

I like it for its sense of Life’s paradox. Paradox in that it is independent and dependent at the same time.

I like it for it’s sense of Business’s paradox. Paradox in that success in business is a combination of stillness, at the right times, and movement/restlessness at all times.

I like it because at its core it doesn’t mean shunning the world and simply being a dreamer … it has rich & royal hues of reality threading its way through its fabric.

I would like to believe I am also a professional aspirationalist.

Now.

To be clear <because Jamie is correct … the word selection was thoughtful to avoid the ‘hippie shit’>.

Accept what I just wrote <that last sentence>. Don’t fight it <even if you are one of those who say ‘I don’t give a fuck what anyone thinks”>.

Because you do care.

Whether you like it or not … whether you think it is right or wrong … whether you think it is a good thing or bad in that it makes you ‘weak’ in some way …. just get it set in your head – in some form or fashion … we care.

Don’t worry … we all care <not just aspirationalists>. We all care what the people around us think about us. And by ‘people’ I mean everyone from those closest to you <who would most likely accept you in any shape and form you ended up in … but you don’t want to disappoint them> to society overall <there is some value in gaining credit for who you are and what you do>.

Please note I used the word “feeds.” Approval and acceptance is not the only nutrition necessary for a healthy esteem and worth.

It is simply one part of the diet.

Even we aspirationalists need a balanced ‘self diet’. We do not seek sole value from proving ourselves to others. And we don’t accept sole value in and of ourselves.

Being an aspirationalist is … well … the paradox. Independent dreamer with some dependence on external cues as to the value of our aspirations.

We want to fit into the world on our own terms.

Regardless.

What a description:

Professional aspirationalist: I am not afraid of my truth anymore and I will not omit pieces of me to make you comfortable. I am a world that cannot be explored in one day. I am not a place for cowards.

We need more of these people in our world … in Life & in business.

Me? I will continue living life, trying to do good shit in Life & business, as a Professional Aspirationalist.

If genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration then as a culture we tend to lionize the one percent. We love its flash and dazzle. But great power lies in the other 99 percent.

——–

“It’s not that I’m so smart. It’s that I stay with problems longer.”

—–

Albert Einstein

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So.

I almost called this “hail to the grinders.” In a flash & dazzle world we have a nasty tendency to overlook the grinders. The ones who never even glance around for the exit because, to them, there is no exit because they know the grind will preclude the need for any exit.

The ones who grind out success, wins and … well … a lot of good shit that matters.

I will admit. It can be tough to sift through everything to see who & what matters.

The perspiration.

The grind.

The fluff.

The flash.

Yes.

We often overlook the perspiration aspect but … c’mon … to be fair … who doesn’t?

Who hasn’t?

And when haven’t we?

We love the fluff <and get bored with folding> and get blinded by the flash <but love the bright lights & colors>.

Perspiration is, in my words, grinding. It is the true grind. Manually taking that ugly stone you dug out of the dirt and manually grinding out the necessary and uncovering the diamond.

No one truly likes to grind <even if we give it some lip service> but the true keepers, the best employees, in any organization are the grinders. The ones who are willing to grind it out … day in and day out.

Now.

Not all ‘grinders’ are equal.

Huh?

Well.

Einstein may have been a grinder but his grinding was all about a vision toward an outcome. He always had the diamond vision.

Yes.

He certainly had a genius about him. I would argue his true genius was an ability to grind his way through the components, and the grind of continuous trial & error, and <here is his genius> his ability to filter out the ordinariness of that which he grinded and reconfigured the ordinary <or known> into something extraordinary. A thought. An idea. A new way of viewing that which was.

On the other hand … some grinders are just that … grinders. The ones who put in the perspiration 100% of the time.

It is just not in their DNA to have the genius inspiration. They earn it the hard way <but they earn it nonetheless>.

Here is the real point.

It all has value. Therefore … they all have value.

And they all <grinders> are organizational ‘keepers’ <because, trust me, the non grinders are wasted slots>.

The true genius perspire.

The non genius perspire.

The lazy are rarely, okay, let’s be honest … the lazy are never genius.

Yup.

The lazy, in their languid intellectualism, may seem like geniuses at some point but they are simply emperors without clothing. They get uncovered with time. Beware the false genius. And be aware of the grinders because just because they don’t have the genius doesn’t make them any less valuable.

Persistence is not glamorous but it is a fact, yes, and an unequivocal truth, that if you stay with a problem longer, grind out it out as it were, you will become smarter.

You will be a better ‘whatever you are’ because in the grind time that you are toiling, and awaiting the genius, you are also studying all aspects, connecting different dots, eliminating different dots, crafting knowledge and developing a deeper understanding.

This may seem silly but it is also true … but because persistence is not glamorous … you may need to often remind yourself that persistence is your constant companion and friend.

Embrace it or you will never even have the chance to become an Einstein.

Despite common myth, or maybe our desire to believe the genius is a born talent and “easy for some’ … or maybe we truly do get blinded by flash & dazzle … we far too often become impatient and shift our focus away from some

Contrarian investor with a group of arrow shapes and a businessman running against conventional wisdom of ivestment strategy as a strategic plan to profit by going against current market sentiment.

current grind for … well … something better <or easier>.

But.

In the end.

There is no short cut to the genius and success is found more often in the grind then in any flash & dazzle moments you may have.

The compulsion to jump from high places is called “l’appel du vide” in French.

Some call it ‘the call of the void.’

I think the phrase is specific to that one instance <& one action> … but I think it’s a cool phrase which creates great imagery beyond that situation.

What I mean by that is “the void” represents risk, the unknown and uncertain situations.

What I mean by that is “the void” represents the spaces in which you must leap into with only faith in order to make the true leaps of progress.

What I mean by that is “the void” represents the best opportunity to learn, grow intellectually & intelligently & … well … just become more knowledgeable.

I say all that because I have read in a number of places that our growth in intelligence is situationally driven. In other words we become smarter by assessing situations we face and contemplating alternatives.

Well.

This would presume all of us would be fucking geniuses because we think about what to do incessantly … in fact … at any given moment we are potentially viewing a lot of possible “alternate futures” in our minds most of which have some aspect of a ‘void’.

Just to humor me … let’s call these alternatives … ‘edges.’

Why?

Well.

Frankly … it sounds more risky than ‘paths.’

Paths implies you can veer off at a leisurely pace … and retrace steps if needed and … well … even a nice bar with a cool cocktail so you can rest at some point.

But edges mean impact.

Impact as in ‘splat’ or impact as in ’that made a difference.’

Impact? Let’s face it … standing at the edge of a high place, staring into the void <or wide open spaces if you want to be poetically beautiful> … means one of those possible futures is “I step forward.”

However, since we know standing on the edge and doing so could bring highly unfavorable consequences, our internal censor whispers in our ear … “no … do not take the step … terrible things could happen.”

To be truthful.

Not many people are truly tempted to jump from the edge into a void.

Most of us just talk about it <and we like talking about it>. But we are just talking … kind of fooling ourselves into ‘taking it into consideration‘ thinking of it the way we do all of our alternatives.

Unfortunately for us … voids are a different kind of alternative.

Think of it this way.

For most of Life, and time, our minds are built to be flexible. We keep “jumping” from thought to thought … alternative to alternative … weighing opportunity <for happiness, success, improvement, pain, etc.>. We envision outcomes in these pondering moments.

But the void is different.

Or at least I think it is.

I don’t think it’s as straightforward as contemplation of the possible or assessing alternatives. Mainly because … well … it is difficult to assess outcomes because it is … uhm … a void.

In addition.

While there a shitload of choices and alternatives that appear before us … many with painful or grave possible consequences … these ‘this or that’ type of choices do not have a similar call of the void. They do not because they are clear choices which we can take in hand. The void is a choice inherent with risk & unknown. The allure, and deterrent, resides in it’s contemplation of the possible with some added element of desire tinged with danger <risk> all centered around a big gaping ‘unknown’.

In our heart of hearts … we know that big risks are the things that reap big rewards.

But taking that step … oh boy .. while tempting … we hesitate because we see … well … “nothing.” Well. Nothing tangible.

But. That temptation. The allure. It keeps us thinking.

Why are we so apt to be attracted to the unknown and the unknowable? Well. In general I believe most of us are hardwired to be curious and to learn. There is an attraction to the unknown because we inherently want to learn and to know and to try to figure out shit which we do not understand.

And to discover new things.

It is that allure to discover which makes you almost see the void building before your eyes.

It gets created by things left unsaid and things said. A discomfort building between what you know and don’t know.

The void truly appears when you finish questioning faith … and it becomes decision time.

You go through the decisions … and the non-decisions … and it builds up to what amounts to a personal leap … a jump into the dark … into the void.

But here is the other truth. Once you’ve fallen into the void and through it … you find yourself in the embrace of … well … what’s next.And after doing so you will rarely fear the void again.

You actually find … or believe you will find more … in the emptiness … in that void.

This means ‘Void answerers’ … or those who can see the void as something rather than nothingness … have the ability to see things where many people see nothing. I believe they actually see vast opportunity within emptiness.

Yes.

There is some faith.

Some faith that at some point in the void you will blindly grasp something to hold on to … either mentally or physically … and you will stop the fall into nothingness and find something.

Something that will stop the fall into the void.

Well … at least that is the desire. Not to endlessly drop but to find some plateau on which to see new things.

The call of the void.

Look.

Not everyone hears this call. And even then … not everyone who hears it … answers it. I tend to believe the ones who answer the call would give you a 6 word answer:

—–

“I wish I could be more.”

=

Six Word Story

—–

It is easy for many of us to think of these ‘void answerers’ as crazy or irresponsible risk takers or imprudent … but we need them. They show us that the void isn’t empty but full of ‘somethings.’

In the end … I believe we need more people who answer the call of the void.

“I think that last night, fortune was merely inclined to favour the least incompetent.”

——

Richard Woodman

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Ok.

Success can be a … well … a deceitful sonuvabitch.

Winning can be a … well … a deceitful sonuvabitch.

Oh.

As a result.

Madmen who have had some success or wins can be … well … real sonuvabitches <asses>.

Regardless.

They can be deceitful because … well … it makes madmen not recognize what asses they are or how incompetent the incompetent are.

Suffice it to say … I have worked in businesses for over 25 years and I have never heard one of the random madmen I have come across admit they were an ass and I have rarely ever heard an incompetent ‘winner’ suggest they were simply the least incompetent that day <or any day that matter>.

Success has that effect on people.

But maybe the most dangerous effect is, for many people, once you have had some … any loss seems like a threat to … well … survival.

Or … as Clausewitz said:

…victory leads easily to overextension, which leads to defeat.

Uh oh.

Defeat is not an option <to madmen & incompetents>.

Business people in survival mode tend to shed themselves of any ability to rationally adapt as well as any ability to navigate the ‘unknowns’ inherent to any business world. Instead, most shift into a more desperate effort to fling themselves into any possible path to the next victory.

Ok.

Survival may sound extreme but I cannot think of a better word.

Suffice it to say that winners think it is a life or death scenario and losing is all about a part of them dying.

The ‘part of them’ may partially be confidence … but what the hell … that is a pretty significant part.

Anyway.

Success or failure … I do know one thing.

Madmen will never say what an ass they are and incompetent people will always believe fortune favors the brave.

And that suggests they are unchangeable.

Look.

That alone isn’t so weird <or damning>.

In general … none of us are particularly good at changing <particularly in their business style & character & skills within business>.

And THAT is important because far too many try to change themselves in order to ‘be a winner.’

I am fairly sure it was Peter Drucker who suggested it is significantly more effective to improve upon the way you perform – how you already do what you do <rather than try to fix the bad things you do>

Uh oh.

This means … <gulp> … madmen become more asshole-ish and the incompetent double down on their incompetence.

If the mad and the incompetent seek some solace I would note that most people do not really know shit about how they actually get things done.

Shit.

Most of us have no clue how other people do their voodoo <get things done>.

Shit.

Most of us don’t really know what we are good at.

Shit.

Even worse … most of us misjudge our strengths.

Shit.

Even worser <I made that word up> … most of us who have had some success are even worse at misjudging their strengths.

Shit.

The truth is more people actually know what they suck at <not good at>.

Oh shit.

But even then most people don’t get that exactly right.

Holy shit.

Suffice it to say … we suck at judging ourselves.

With all that self-assessment suckedness what do we do? Well, particularly in today’s world, you go the easy path … you judge off of outcomes <the successes & wins> avoiding any interest in scrutinizing any of the details of how you achieved the outcome.

In fact … the details of our success becomes so unimportant in the scheme of things we create a mosh pit of all positive things which COULD have contributed to how good we were in that success.

It is a crazy mix of ethics, values & integrity <inextricably tied to the outcome rather than the process> blended with a good amount of curiosity & perseverance & resilience <against the negative tides pushing against our inevitable deserved success> all sprinkled with the necessary “team player” <I thrive when I work closely with others>.

Unfortunately, this mosh pit simply cloaks incompetence, mistakes, errors in judgement and whatever ‘not-so-good shit’ <being a madman> by painting a positive coat of ‘something’ over them <”we weren’t as efficient because I wanted the team involved” or “we pursued this idea out of planned curiosity only to judge it was not the best path” … crap like that>.

Oh shit.

This gets worse.

Winning tends to concentrate one on doing more of what they perceived they had done to succeed rather than invest any energy on cultivating any additional skills, needs or improvements.

========================

“it takes far more energy to improve from incompetence to mediocrity than to improve from first-rate performance to excellence.”

—-

Peter Drucker

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What makes that even worse is that translates into madmen concentrating more on ass –like things and incompetents focusing more whatever bumbling they had done.

Anyway.

I have found <without any research> people fall into two buckets on this topic – those who focus on the win and those who focus on improvement.

I would suggest the madmen and oblivious incompetent fall in the former bucket … and the truly sane business people, with a chance of actually being good, fall into the latter bucket.

I say that because any pivot points in progress tend to become more obvious in reflection than in the actual ‘living’ within the moment.

Therefore, if all I do is focus on the win I will reflect with little true critiquing and most likely remain a madman and incompetent.

Therefore, if all I do is be slightly perpetually dissatisfied with my performance and critique, in a healthy way, I will most likely increase my competency.

The former says “fortune favors the brave.” Always.

The latter says “fortune was merely inclined to favor the least incompetent.” At least on occasion.

Lastly.

I would suggest that madmen and the incompetent have one thing in common … lack of meaningful convictions <beyond success at any cost>.

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“Convictions are not like gloves; one cannot easily change them.” …

—-

General Petr Grigorevich

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Well.

“Convictions are not like gloves.”

There is a keeper of a thought. madmen and incompetents are incredibly good at treating convictions like gloves.

Shit.

Their convictions are more like chameleons.

I end there because I wish more of us in the business world would keep all of this in mind. Especially the madmen, who are asses, and the incompetent <who win more often than they would like to admit … despite their incompetence>.

Sometimes you can be an ass … and it is <generally> okay if you aware enough to sit back and say “what an ass am I!”

Sometimes you can be an incompetent … and its <generally okay if you are aware enough to sit back and say “fortune was merely inclined to favour the least incompetent this time.”

Who am I kidding?

No madman has ever said “what an ass am I!” and no incompetent has ever said “fortune was merely inclined to favour the least incompetent this time.”